


In a heartbeat

by FernShaw



Category: Mad Rat Dead (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Reincarnation, Sacrifice, Self-Sacrifice, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27460831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FernShaw/pseuds/FernShaw
Summary: Mad rat us going to kill the human. He's sure of it. Nothing can stop him. Or ... So does he think.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	In a heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> Ooookay before you read this fic, I have a few things to say  
> I started to write it before the game was released so most things are faaar from the canon. So I'll just list a few canon divergences to make sure you're not lost : (obvious spoilers)
> 
> Rat god is truly a god here. And she's sweet 
> 
> The heart transplant happened BUT it's not what killed mad rat. It was another experiment. Still heart obviously died. Mad Rat does not know about it but when he sees heart in heaven he just immediately knows it's him.
> 
> Rat can talk to humans and other people can see heart/ his chest wounds
> 
> The mob rats dying were not an hallucination

Mad rat dead fic

It took many tries, a long day and a lot of effort, but he was finally here. Mad Rat had found the scientist's house, and he was going to get his revenge. His sweet, sweet revenge. 

"Mad Rat ... Are you sure about this ? Do you really ... Want to kill this human ?"

"Yes. I know you won't be liking my answer but ... Yes. I will do it. I thought a lot about it and... I just don't see how I could forgive someone who killed me. Hope I'll be able to change my mind but ... I just don't see how. I hope you understand my choice, heart."

"... I do. Either way, I'll support you."

"Thank you Heart."

The little rodent jumped window from window to finally shatter one and crash inside of the house, right in front of the human. The man looked around, trying to figure out what happened, only to be pushed against his couch by a mysterious force. He crashed on the pillows, took a little while to regain its stability, turned around only to see ... A rat. A small rat, with an open chest and a heart beating inside of it. 

"Wha- ... What's going on ?!"

"Listen to me scientist ! I'm here to take my revenge !" 

The human stared at the small body staring at him, nor sure how to react. The rat just ... Talked to him ?! Was that an hallucination of his ..?

"Excuse me but umh ... R-revenge ?"

"Yes, revenge. I'm the rat that you're going to kill tonight. I turned back in time to take my revenge. Because of your actions, I will die no mater what tonight, and I'm clearly not accepting the idea of dying without getting my revenge !!"

The man gasped and put his hands on his mouth. Truly, he didn't expect to hear such thing, even if the situation already was difficult to acknowledge.

"You're ... The result of my experiments ..?"

"Exactly ! You killed me, you knew what you were doing ! I can't just accept to die for no reason like that, because you wanted to test something and get more knowledge !"

"You're ... It's not ... You're not just a test I did for fun ... It's ... So much more important ..."

"What could be more important than life itself ?!"

The man looked away in shame, in too much of a shock to find an answer. He tried gathering his thoughts but he couldn't find a satisfying thing to say, until ...

"If there's a way you could end a lot of deaths and suffering in the world but you had to sacrifice something for it, what would you do ?"

"... I'd say it's not my problem."

"I guess it's not yours, huh..."

The human sighed and layed on their couch, still staring at the rodent 

"But it's mine. My dear lover ... They have this terrible illness. It's called Tuberculosis. It touches billions of people in the world each year and is extremely painful and deadly. You, your job was to be a final test before deciding to get the medicine on approbation and start getting it distributed throughout the whole word. It was my only chance to get them through it, so I guess it was my problem after all."

Mad Rat looked at the ground with a heavy heart and pounded on the table. 

"You may say that now, but you can't just tell me that the rats you put me in with back then were just tested out to be a vaccine ! They literally had their brains out and attacked me for no reason !"

"I ... I didn't know that. I wasn't the one experimenting on this batch. Sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes experiments can be simply cruel because not all humans do it for reasons like mine. I do hear your complains, little rat. But at least know that I never hurt anything without the desire to save more in the future."

Heart slowly got out of mad rat's chest and looked around before asking.

"What do we do now ? This is your only opportunity if your goal is to kill him !"

"I don't know ... Is it really worth it ? If he truly saved lifes and may save more, would it be worth it to kill him just like that ?"

"... I'm not the one in charge here. You are. I trust you Mad Rat. I'll be with you no matter your choice, but I would give you the advice to follow your heart."

The rat sighs and looks back at the gigantic big over him 

"Human. No matter what my choices will be, I will die tonight. Do you truly believe that your goal of saving lifes will end up being something that will truly help others ?" 

"I do. I did it with the idea of saving people. And it will. I know there is no reason for you to trust me on that little rat but ... I swear it is the case."

Mad rat looked at the man directly in the eyes. He believed him. He wanted to believe him. But having him realising his dream of saving more people meant that ... He couldn't be killed before the rat's death. This was it. A true impass. But ... Deep down the rodent already knew what would he say. He approached the man and instinctively climbed on his hand. 

"... Then we should go back at the laboratory."

The man gently scooped the little creature and put him on his shoulder with a little head rub and smiled with a visible sadness on his face. He opened his front door, took his car and drove to the facility. It was ... A weird drive. Having to actually spend a little time with the animal he was about to kill was weird. Especially when the animal in itself was so gentle. Mad Rat was relatively calm except when he talked with his heart once in a while. He stayed on the man's shoulder or on his head for the whole trip and the two of them talked just a little. Not too much. They both knew where it was going to end and not thinking about it was the best thing to do. After the drive the man stopped the car, took his keys out and opened the lab's door.

"Well. This is where it ends. I hope I'll see you once more in another life, little rat."

I have a dream  
I have my own beliefs  
I don't want sad things to happen  
If I can save many, I should try  
There's something I regret  
Things more important than life don't exist  
That's why this rat should be saved  
I hate humans

Black. Deep deep black. It felt relaxing. Like peace, finally a way to get some rest. That ... Until a voice shouted 

"Heyyyy ! Mad Rat ! Are you up ?"

The small creature rubbed his eyes only to find out that he was surrounded by ... Cheese. And that voice, he knew who it was. 

"Goddess. You're here."

"Tic tac, seems your time is up ! I hope you at least enjoyed your day ! I saw that you didn't fulfill your wish, even if you were so close ! What happened ?"

"I ... I couldn't do it. It was just ... Too hard. I guess I really was mad at the time, huh ?"

The gentle lady smiled and rubbed her hand on his cheek. 

"Perhaps. But it's not like you'll have to worry about such thing anymore. Right now, it's time for you to get some well deserved rest."

"Can I ... Speak with Heart ?"

"Of course. He's been waiting for you."

Mad Rat looked behind him only to see a big cat purring and smiling. He dashed towards his friend and gave him the biggest hug he ever gave. That was it. True happiness.

"Honey, I'm home !"

Having to come back to his place after that kind of ... Special. The man always had regrets whenever he killed an animal. But this time truly was different. It hurt. A lot. 

"Welcome back ! I-is ... Everything alright ? You seem... Strange."

The man sat on the couch and hugged his girlfriend kindly, perhaps a little more tight that usual, all with a sigh. 

"Today was ... Hard. Very hard. I did it, we got the authorisation to sell the medicine but ... I feel like I can't do that anymore. I'm tired of killing innocents. I'm ... Thinking of quitting."

The lady smiled and kissed him on the cheeks. 

"You did what you could. Sometimes you can't just continue to force yourself to do things that are against your standards. You already did so much for me ... I'll support your choices no matter what."

The man smiled and let a few tears roll down his cheeks. Finally. He did it. He didn't have to continue to kill. After a little bit of time, he reached his pocket and took out a small closed box out of it. 

"Honey, do you think you could help me dig a hole in the garden ? This little guy did his best to help us. I think he deserves more than being thrown in a trash can."

Peace. Calm. Serenity. A perfect place to spend the eternity as a lost soul. Paradise really help up to its name, somehow. To be a rat wod could simply stay with his best friend all day while doing whatever he wanted was a perfect way to be. An never ending uninterrupted-

"Heyyyy Mad Rat !"

"What the hell ??"

A squeaky voice came from behind him. A voice that immediately recognised.

"R-rat god ? What are you doing here ?!"

"I'm here to give you something ~ a present, to be more exact."

"No, thank you. This place is already more than perfect, as long as I'm with heart I don't need anything else."

The goddess chuckled. 

"Awwhhh... And here I thought you were unhappy about spending your life as a lab rat."

"What ? Are you telling me you can go back in time and change my fate or something ?"

"Nuh-uh. You played enough with time for this life. But still ... I never said that you couldn't get another life."

Mad rat gasped and looked at Heart. The two of them smiled and thought a little bit. 

"If I'm going for another round, I take Heart with me. It's both or nothing."

"My my, you sure are trying to negotiate the deal ... Fine. You both deserve such treatment of favor. Your lifes truly weren't the happiest, you deserve another chance. It shall be a good experience, this time."

"Thanks for coming dude ! I'm sorry, I can take care of most of them but 7 rats is just too much for me. I hope I'm not asking for too much."

"Don't worry, it's not problem. I've been thinking of getting rats for a while now. After working so many years in labs I got attached to theses lil fellas and I always hoped that I could get a few as pets. Thought ... How did you even managed to get a pregnant rat in the first place ?!"

"Ya know, pet stores are really shitty. I'm guessing they didn't separate the males and females properly and she somehow ended up with babies."

The two men walked towards a big cage, where two big rats and a few smaller ones were waiting, gripping the cage's bars. 

"Pick whichever ya want in the small batch. They're all getting along pretty well, even if these two in particular seem like they can't be separated."

He pointed two little furballs that were licking each other's fur gently. One was a deep grey with little white stripes around, which made it look like they were stitched together like frankenstein's monster. The second one was a pretty white rat with a black heart in its chest. When the ancient scientist approached the cage to open it, the duo rushed over to see who it was with curiousity, only to sniff his hand with insistance and curl up in it.  
The man started to feel tears slowly accumulating in his eyes when the two little beings stared at him with insistance.  
That was it.  
That was the other life


End file.
